Last weekend was a swirl in my memory. I’m still not sure what happened, but one random event led to another, and all I know is I’m still alive.

It all started when I woke up to a text message from my boss in Rochester that said “Can you drive Sam Roberts around today?” The first thing that went through my mind was, “Jesus, my car is a mess! This just can’t happen.” However, the more I thought about it over my morning coffee I thought, you know..this could be interesting…really interesting. PLUS. I bet he’s met Emily Haines..so maybe I’ll have an in. Yes, that’s right. This could be a connection – and so I said, “sure, fine. Whatever, just give me details”.
It was fine, as my friend Martha was already planning on shooting some pictures of Sam for a magazine that the two of us are creating (that’s another story)…

So we pick up Sammy boy and his lead guitarist Dave at the venue (Water St. in Rochester) and instantly hit it off. There’s some artists in life you meet and think to yourself, “You need to get over yourself before I kick you in your vitals”..you know, like Ani Difranco- Then there’s individuals like Neko Case or Sam Roberts. We talked about the Sims, dream collaborations, high school..you know. normal stuff. I’ll divulge more into it when I post an interview soon..

So we got to the station, did a mini photo shoot. The dudes were interviewed on air, played some acoustic tracks- and then I chauffeured them back to their hotel.

After grabbing some dinner I headed back to the venue to sit down and share a beer with opening band Mother Mother. It was pretty awful- I was exhausted, they were stressed, I wasn’t prepared. And take my word, that combination leads to a pretty bad result. So I gathered the group around in the green room, asked some really crappy questions and got a lot of sass and sarcasm in return. This was my favorite:
Scott: Are you all excited for SxSW this year?
Mother Mother: No. Not really. it’s like work, it’s too hectic…
Scott: Alright so then on the flipside, if you were invited to something like Coachella or Canadian Festivals, do you feel the same?
MM: No absolutely not. Why would we want that opportunity, and all of that promotion.
Scott: Uhh…is that sarcasm
MM: Yes.
Scott: Alright, I’m going to finish my beer and then leave.

It was something like that, but who cares they came on stage and kicked ass. The Sam crowd however…holy shit, I haven’t seen that many drunken Canadians since well..a maple leafs game? One man kept screaming and it sounded like a rabbit being murdered, and then his friends wife picked a fight with my friend. It was insane.

So long story short: I suggest go seeing Sam Roberts…however I also suggest bringing a bat and pepper spray.